Manners Maketh Man
by TheMalteseTiger
Summary: Three years after the events of V-Day, Eggsy finds himself in Harry's position as agent Galahad, with his partner Roxy, a.k.a Lancelot. Over the last three years, Eggsy finds himself falling for her. And falling hard. But when Troubles arise, and Eggsy's feelings begin threaten their parntership, he must re-learn Harry's first Lesson. (Had to re-upload. Forum being fickle. :(
1. NIGHT TERRORS

**NIGHT TERRORS**

Eggsy tightened the shemahg around his head and sat in the corner of the room as another rocket struck the building.

"Merlin, How much longer are we supposed wait here?" Eggsy said into his radio.

"Until Lancelot gets back." Came Merlin's stiff response.

"Yeah, where da' fuck is Roxy anyway?" Eggsy replied.

"Still on recon." Merlin replied.

"Are you sure? She's been out of radio contact for to long." Eggsy said, hiding the worry from his voice.

"It's imperative that she maintains radio silence. Don't worry; Roxy's a big girl. She can take care of herself." Merlin replied.

"What?" Eggsy said.

"I said she can take care of herself. Are you listening to me Galahad?" Merlin responded.

"Yeah, I heard that it's just…I never heard you say her real name since training." Eggsy said.

"C'mon Galahad. Pull yourself together. This is just another mission. You and Lancelot have been on hundreds of them." Merlin reminded.

It was true. It's been three years since V-Day, and Eggsy had taken Harry's place as a Kingsman agent, and did his best to honor his mentor's memory.

In those three years, he and Roxy had managed to stop terrorists and fanatic alike from completing their twisted agendas. Together, they've exposed corruption, toppled regimes, and ended dictatorships.

Through all this, and more, Eggsy had grown fairly fond of Roxy. He might go as far as saying he was in love with her. But He could not tell if the feeling was mutual, and for this reason, he found himself unnaturally afraid of asking. The worst torture to ever experience, never knowing, but too afraid to find out.

Now here he was, waiting her return, worrying.

Fear was part of the job. They risked their lives almost daily, and tomorrow was all but an uncertainty. But his fear did not stem merely from the job at hand. They were in Syria, in a small town he could not pronounce the name of.

They were hunting an ISIS commander responsible for murdering dozens of British citizens being held hostage in Syria. They had been in country for several days, looking for the commander's hideout where their Intel said, three more hostages were being held.

This was not just fear for his partner's life that he was experiencing. For months, there have been nightmares. Not the average monsters in the dark type of nightmares normal people had.

Every time both Eggsy and Roxy are somewhere, in some unknown place on an unknown mission. Every single time, it's the same setting, and the same outcome. He tells Roxy how he feels, and Roxy dies.

It may be paranoia, but it just seems so real.

_Is this the place? Is this where I lose her?_

Eggsy thinks to himself. He immediately pushes the thought from his mind as another rocket strikes the building.

The village he was in was under siege from ISIS forces and was putting up stiff resistance of its own. There was gunfire off in the distance, where a large firefight was taking place. There had been several large explosions in the direction of the fighting, but it was all too familiar to Eggsy.

This was not the first warzone he and Roxy had been in, and it sure as hell would not be the last. The Congo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Iran, They've seen it all. Hundreds of missions all around the world, he and Roxy had become two of the best Kingsman agents in the agency's history.

_Harry would be proud._

Another bomb exploded in the distance. Eggsy decided he would get some sleep before Roxy returned.

_She'll return. Right?_

Eggsy pushed the thought from his mind and allowed his eyes to close as he drifted of into a deep slumber.

* * *

"I'm running low on ammo." Roxy said.

"Me to," Eggsy replied, "Never thought it would end like this."

"What are you talking about? We still have our training. We still have some ammo." Roxy replied.

"Yeah, but still. You don't expect we'll be able to do this forever, do ya'? Sooner or later, you're gonna by i', and all you're gonna have is yourself." Eggsy replied.

"Is everything alright Eggsy? I've never seen you like this."

"Yeah, it's just…" Eggsy paused, "I've been alone a lot of my life. Always had to look after me self. But ever since I joined the Kingsman, ever since I met you, everything's changed."

"Eggsy, what are you talking about?" Roxy replied feeling her heart beat quicken.

"It's just… no matter how this ends, I don't want to be alone anymore. I want someone I can spend the rest of my life with, not just some cheap one night stand."

"That's mighty talk coming from a man who got laid by a princess." Roxy mocked.

"I'm serious Roxy," Eggsy replied, "We've been through thick and thin together, and you've always been there for me since day one of training. What I'm trying to say is…I think I love you."

Roxy struggled for her words, any words. She didn't know what to say, or how to react. She was taken completely off guard. Her heart was beating out of her chest now. She was terrified, excited, petrified, and aroused all at once it was hard to contain herself.

"Roxy?" Eggsy asked.

Roxy quickly regained her focus, leveling her gaze with Eggsy's.

"Roxy, are you okay?" Eggsy asked once more.

"Yeah… I-I'm fine… it's just… I-"

*BOOM*

A massive explosion threw both of them to the floor as several dozen men armed with M-4 assault rifles and PDWs stormed the room.

The two agents exchanged a glance and nodded to each other as they sprang back up from the floor.

They both raised their pistols and took aim at the platoon of soldiers in front of them.

They quickly began unloading their last magazines into the crowd, making every shot count and dropping a man with almost every shot.

One of the men tackled Eggsy and slammed him into a wall. Eggsy quickly did a flip, and threw the man to the floor, pulling him into an arm bar. Eggsy regained his pistol and blew the man's brains out with his last bullet.

More men stormed the area, and Eggsy saw Roxy beat down the last of a group of four by delivering a stiff knee to the chest and pistol-whipping him.

"Here!" Eggsy said, tossing her another pistol as more men stormed the room.

A man charged towards Eggsy again, but Eggsy shot out his knee caps and pulled him into a one armed head lock, using him as a human shield killing three more men as they entered the room. Eggsy pushed the men away and shot him dead as well.

Roxy dodged several punches from one of the soldiers. She quickly deployed the knife hidden in her shoe. The man attempted to strike her again, but she knocked it to the side and kicked him in the gut.

Pulling the blade from the man, she quickly delivered a swift backwards hook kick to another man rushing her with a baton. She swept the mans legs out from under him and delivered another kick with her shoe knife.

A squad of men opened fire from the entrance and killed the rest of the soldiers in the room. One bullet struck Roxy in the chest, while another struck Eggsy in the back of the shoulder. Both of them took cover behind separate walls as the hail of gunfire continued, shattering tile and windows.

"Are you okay?" Eggsy shouted over the gunfire.

Roxy pulled the bullet from her suit. There would be some major bruising later on, but the suit had done its job.

"I'm fine," she shouted back, "There's to many of them.

Roxy saw Eggsy pull something out of his jacket, "Get down!" he shouted.

Roxy saw him flip open a golden lighter and press down on the igniter. She ducked behind the wall as Eggsy threw the lighter behind the firing squad. The grenade went off with a tremendous explosion, clearing out the rest of the soldiers.

"Are you okay?" Eggsy asked standing up from behind the desk he was hiding behind.

"Fine." Roxy said standing up.

"Now that could have been worse." Eggsy shrugged.

There was a brief pause before the two broke into laughter at the thought of anything being worse.

"Shall we call Merlin and get a ride out of here?" Roxy asked.

"Sounds good." Roxy replied as she began to walk over to Eggsy.

Just then, bullet tore through the window and struck Roxy in the stomach, spraying bits of cloth and blood everywhere. The bullet had torn clean through the suit and had left a sizeable exit wound, a second later, the report of the rifle could be heard. It did not sound like a regular rifle at all, in fact, the low belch of the rifle sounded more resemblent of the sound of distant thunder.

Two more bullets tore through Roxy's right leg and left shoulder. Roxy cried out in agony as the of somebody dragging barbed wire through the bullet holes.

"ROXY!" Eggsy said as he ran to her aid.

Just as he reached her, Eggsy felt something slam into him from the side followed by a thunderous roar. The blast wave was so powerful it lifted both of them off their feet and flung them across the room towards the large viewing windows with little effort. Eggsy managed to stop himself on part of the window frame, lodging a large piece of glass in his left shoulder. He looked down and saw that he had caught Roxy by her left hand with his right hand, and she was Dangling over the edge of a skyscraper, but she appeared to be unconscious.

"Roxy!" Eggsy shouted.

"ROXY!" Eggsy shouted, this time louder.

This time, he saw her head begin to stir as she regained consciousness.

"OH MY GOD!" She screamed as she looked down at the long drop.

"It's okay, it's okay! I got you!" Eggsy said, "Just look at me, only at me." Eggsy said.

Roxy shifted her gaze from the long drop up towards earth.

"Don't drop me!" Roxy shuddered. The fear in her voice was all to present.

"Don't worry, I'm going to pull you up. Give me your other hand!" Eggsy said, reaching for Roxy's injured arm with his left arm.

Another bullet tore threw Eggsy's right buttocks as he did. Eggsy let out a brief cry of pain.

"Are you okay?!" Roxy asked, seeing Eggsy's face contort.

"Fine!" Eggsy replied as he began to bull Roxy up.

Two more shots tore through Eggsy's lower back as the mysterious sniper tormented him. Eggsy let out another cry of pain.

Roxy looked on helplessly as her partner's cries of pain were lost in the wind.

"Eggsy!" Roxy shouted as another bullet tore through Eggsy's right shoulder.

Eggsy coughed up some blood as Roxy felt his grip on her hand loosen.

"Eggsy stay with me. You can do this. Stay alive!" She said.

"Don't worry, I've through worse scrapes than this." Eggsy wheezed. Roxy realized that a bullet must have also punctured one of his lungs, and she felt his grip loosen even further.

"Eggsy! I'm slipping!" She shouted.

Eggsy tightened his grip and fought to keep consciousness and pull Roxy up at the same time, but he couldn't. The pain was excruciating.

He had been shot five times, and one of the bullets had torn through his back and chest cavity, puncturing a lung and causing it to collapse. Although he was bleeding out, his first thought was to save Roxy. He had held on for as long as he could, fighting off the pain and blood loss. But his strength was waning. He was almost positive something had nicked his abdominal aortic artery, and was only doubtful do to the fact he was still alive.

"I got you!" Eggsy said attempting to pull Roxy up yet again. Two more bullets instantly struck Eggsy in the back, causing him to slump over. The last of his energy spent.

"Eggsy!" Roxy cried.

"Don't let go!" Eggsy said.

"I'm slipping!"

"I got you!"

"Eggsy," Roxy said, "If I don't make it through this-"

"Don't talk like that! You said yourself, we're making it out of here!" Eggsy shot back.

"I can't hold on much longer." Roxy said.

"I got you. I'm not letting go!" Eggsy said.

"Just listen," Roxy shouted, "I just want you to know, that I-"

A bullet hit the side of Eggsy's head and knocked him out for a moment. His grip loosened once more.

"Eggsy!" Roxy said as Eggsy quickly regained consciousness.

"Roxy!" Eggsy shouted as she slipped from his grasp.

"EGGSY!"


	2. TARGET SIGHTED

**TARGET SIGHTED**

"EGGSY!" Roxy shouted again.

Eggsy jumped violently from his nightmare and drew his pistol, only to see Roxy sitting next to him.

"Sorry, bad dream." Eggsy replied.

"Try nightmare. You look pale, and you were mumbling something in your sleep." Roxy said.

"What did I say?" Eggsy said whipping the sweat from his forehead.

"I don't know. I couldn't make it out. Something about not letting go." Roxy said.

Eggsy's face went from pale to florid but, thankfully, it went unnoticed by Roxy.

"How'd the recon go?" Eggsy said, eager to change the subject.

"Excellent. Our target is an old Turkish fortress a few clicks outside of the town. I also scouted out a sniping position two thousand meters from the target. You can make that shot, right?" Roxy teased.

"Of course." Eggsy replied in his usual cocky tone.

"Alright then. Let's get moving." Roxy said.

"Let me grab my rifle." Eggsy said, picking up a large gun case and pulling it onto his back.

"Ready?" Roxy said.

"Always." Eggsy said and they took off into the night.

"Not much longer now." Roxy said.

"Roger." Eggsy replied, writing down the range, and wind direction into his DOPE, or Data Of Previous Engagements Notebook.

"You've done those calculations a hundred times." Roxy said.

"And I'll do them a hundred more if I have to. We'll only get one shot on this bastard." Eggsy said.

"I know, I was joking." Roxy said.

Truthfully, Eggsy knew he didn't need to plan the shot any more than he already had. He had run through all the possible scenarios and calculations so many times he could make the shot while def. and blind regardless of what happened. No. He wasn't doing this for perfection, he was long past that. He was keeping his mind occupied so he wouldn't wander to that dark place. To the nightmare. He was doing everything he could to keep it on lock down. He didn't want it to distract him. Not here. Not now.

He just wanted to get through this mission so he could go home and drown his sorrows in rum.

Roxy sensed something was off. Although Eggsy was doing his best to hide it, Roxy could see that he was acting weird. She was tempted to bring it up, but he wasn't sure if she wanted to. He seemed awfully determined to avoid the topic. Eventually her curiosity got the better of her.

"Is everything okay Eggsy?" Roxy asked.

"Fine." Eggsy said without taking his eye off the scope.

"Eggsy, we've worked together for three years. I think I know when something is bothering you," she paused for a moment, "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"I know. But really, everything is fine." Eggsy said looking her in the eye.

"Okay." She said. Everything was certainly not fine.

"Thermals showing a large group of armed individuals approaching the courtyard." Merlin said of the com link.

"Copy." Eggsy said, pulling the Denel NTW-20 anti-material rifle into his shoulder.

"Target sighted." Roxy said, her eye now on the spotter scope.

"Copy." Eggsy acknowledged their target entering the courtyard with a hefty number of bodyguards.

"Sniper in the tower." Roxy said.

"I see him." Eggsy said.

"Merlin, we have visual on Achmed Al Rashid." Roxy said.

"Copy, be advised, thermals are picking up more personnel on the way."

"Hostile?" Eggsy asked.

"Unknown. It looks like they're chained together. You should have a visual any second now." Merlin replied.

"Fuck." Eggsy said as a group of twelve prisoners wearing shackles, black hoods, and bright orange jumpsuits filed into the courtyard and were lined up in front of a wall facing Al Rashid.

"Merlin, we have a visual on the hostages. They're about to be executed."

"Then I suggest you get a move on and take out those hostiles. You're cleared to fire." Merlin said.

"Copy." Eggsy said and cycled a round into the chamber.

"Range?"

"Twelve-hundred meters."

"Wind speed?"

"Five knots. East to west."

Eggsy adjusted his scope accordingly and prepared to fire. He inhaled, then exhaled, and squeezed the trigger at the bottom of his breath.

There was a loud thunderous roar and a bright flash as a small explosion emanated from the barrel of the rifle, kicking up dust and debris as the 20mm armor-piercing round sailed through the air. The round was a special design by the Kingsman, made out of a depleted uranium slug. This allowed the rifle to shoot through almost any building material and most armored vehicles.

A moment after the shot was fired, the round tore through three of Rashid's bodyguards that were on the firing line, before ripping it's way through his chest cavity, killing him and the a man behind him.

Eggsy quickly cycled another round into the chamber and fired again, taking out the last five men on the firing line. He loaded another round, this time a standard High Explosive round.

"Target: Sniper. Top of the tower. Call it." Eggsy said.

"Range: twelve-hundred fifty meters. Wind four and a half knots. Heading 0-8-5." Roxy replied.

Eggsy adjusted the scope to compensate for the drift of the bullet, then squeezed off another round. The round flew strait and true slamming into the sniper and blowing him to kingdom come.

The remaining gunmen began firing in their general direction, not knowing where the shots were coming from. In their haste, they had forgotten about the hostages who did their best to hide where they stood. The gunmen began to bunch up and Eggsy prepared to fire his last two rounds.

Another Kingsman invention. A variant of the high explosive rounds, except instead of a regular warhead, the round possessed a thermobaric explosive charge. The round also had an airburst capability, which Eggsy was about to exploit to the best of his abilities.

"Call it." Eggsy said.

"Twelve thirty. Wind six knots. Heading 0-8-6."

Eggsy squeezed off the first round. The bullet rocketed through the air leaving a beautiful vapor trail, easily detected by the eye. The round sailed into the back half of the group and detonated with a very large, thunderous explosion. The report, of which, could even be heard from the two sniper's location. The explosion dazed those who were to far to be killed, and vaporized the entire rear of the group, leaving nothing but body parts and a mushroom cloud.

Eggsy squeezed the trigger again, this time placing the round in the center of the second group. The explosion sounded like gods lightning itself, and vaporized the remaining gunmen. Any surviving ISIS members able to flee the area did so terrified, dazed, and confused to what had just occurred.

"Target down. Hostages rescued." Eggsy said.

"Copy that Eggsy, good work."

Eggsy pulled himself into a crouching position, just as a bullet tore into his shoulder, knocking him to the ground. Seeing the impact, Roxy instinctively rolled into position behind the rifle and loaded a fresh magazine.

"Where is he?" Roxy said.

"2000 meters. West, I think." Eggsy said crawling up next to Roxy.

"Got it." Roxy said. She squeezed the trigger firing another thermobaric round in the direction of the mysterious shooter.

There was a large explosion off in the distance on a rocky hillside near an outcropping.

"Did you get him?" Eggsy said, rolling onto his back.

"Yep. He's dead." Roxy replied.

"The round went through the armor. No exit wound." Eggsy said through slightly labored breathing.

"Can you move?" Roxy asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

"Yeah." Eggsy replied.

"Good. Now suck it up. We better get those hostages out of there." Roxy said, any sign of worry was now gone from her voice.

"Surprisingly small fucker, 'ain't he?" Eggsy said, referring to the bullet that struck him.

"Yeah. I'm surprised. A new battle scar then?" Roxy said. Over the years, the two had accumulated more than a few of battle related injuries. And the scars to prove it.

"Yep. You think the suit would've stopped it be'er?" Eggsy asked. They had traded in their usual armor for a black Special Forces combat fatigues, with a slightly less effective bulletproof vest for better maneuverability and speed.

"Probably." She joked as the two hurried to save the hostages.

* * *

"Good work you two. Another mission the world will never know about." Merlin said over the video feed.

The two had rescued the hostages and escorted them to a nearby village where they were then picked up by a Special Forces team.

"Yeah, and another scar to show for it." Eggsy said while the doctor on board the private jet pulled the bullet from his shoulder.

"Aye, well, I'll get R&amp;D to develop a better vest." Merlin said.

"Please do." Eggsy said.

Eggsy went to go put on a shirt, but as soon as he stood up he began to feel dizzy.

"You alright Eggsy?" Roxy asked seeing her partner's altered state.

"F-Fine…I'm fine. Just a little tired, that's all." Eggsy said.

The room began to spin around him, and his vision became blurry and obscured. As if looking through jelly. He was most definitely _not_ alright.

He took several steps, struggling to keep his balance, until eventually he completely blacked out and collapsed to the floor, as if his entire body turned to dead weight. His head making firm contact with the edge of the table.

"Eggsy!" Roxy rushed over to her collapsed partner and rolled him onto his back as he began to convulse.

"Eggsy! Can you hear me?" Roxy said patting his face in an effort to wake him.

"What's going on?" Merlin said through the video feed.

"It's Eggsy, sir! Something's wrong." Roxy said as the doctor rushed over and placed an oxygen mask over Eggsy's mouth and nose.

"Bloody, hell. Alright, tell the pilot to haul ass to the nearest safe house, there'll be a medical team waiting for you there." Merlin said, then the feed went dead.

"C'mon, stay with me Eggsy." Roxy repeated as if it were some sort of a mantra.

"Stay with me…"


	3. DEADLY GAME

_Hey guys. Sorry for the lack of an authors note, but I figure this chapter really needs one. In case it's not obvious, not all the weapons or gadgets are real, nor will some obey the laws o physics entirely, but most of the time, I'll try to keep things realistic. Here is one such occasion, but I think it's completely plausible. Anyway, sorry the chapters have been so short, but I've been really busy. I have my GUP fic that I'm finishing up, I'm writing several other stories on the side, and I have school and a commission for another fic. So I'm pretty booked, so posting is going to a bit sporadic. But I should keep up updates for the next couple of weeks, because it's spring break, but after that I might start slowing down again, so don't worry if I haven't posted anything in a while. Anyway I'll see you guys at the bottom of the page._

* * *

**DEADLY GAME**

The Siberian wind blew violently in the night as a single man dressed in black crept through the shadows. Aiden Scott was regretting his decision to come to Russia's remote Kamchatka peninsula. While the land was undeniably beautiful beyond all comparison, it was fraught with danger. Not half an hour before, he had just survived a run in with a Russian brown bear.

"Why do I always get these missions?" He asked himself. The cold wind blew across the mountainside and chilled the man to the bone.

Aiden was just over six feet, weighing in at around two hundred pounds. His pale complexion and red hair were proud reminders of his Scottish heritage, which bled into his words when he spoke. His swimmers build gave him amazing agility. In water. But now he found himself hiking through one of the most remote places on earth in the middle of the night while a violent storm hammered the countryside.

"Come in Gawain." Merlin said.

"I copy you Merlin." Aiden replied.

"What's your status? You need to be at that mountain by sunrise." Merlin ordered.

"That's easy for you to say. Not everyone can survive an encounter with a Russian brown bear." Aiden complained.

"Stop." Merlin said abruptly.

"What? Do you realize how hard it is to out run a fockin' bear on the side of a mountain while god decides to take a piss on you?" Aiden snapped.

"No I mean stop moving. I'm picking something up on thermals." Merlin said. A sense of fear evident in his voice.

"What is it?" Aiden said, sharing in Merlin's fear.

"Something that will make the bear seem like a fockin' stuffed animal. Six o'clock." Merlin said.

Aiden turned around contemplated what that meant for a moment before he saw something move in the night. He saw two orbs floating out of the darkness about four feet off the ground. The orbs glow a fiery orange and moved lazily up and down. Aiden looked closer, attempting to identify the source of the orbs. A flash of lightning confirmed his fears.

In the brief moment of light, he saw the outline of a large cat, almost ten feet long, and four feet high. Its hide was fiery orange, and its body was covered in stripes. He came to the swift realization that he was staring down a Siberian tiger. A creature notorious for _killing_ bears.

"Merlin?" Aiden quivered.

"Yes Gawain?" Merlin replied.

"Any suggestions?"

"You could try using your tranquilizer darts." Merlin said.

"This is a one thousand pound tiger, not some two hundred pound mall cop." Aiden said holding his ground.

"Well, any better suggestions?" Merlin said.

"I could kill it."

"No! Your pistol will only piss it off. Plus, it's an endangered species." Merlin said.

"Well, at this moment, so am I" Aiden said.

Another flash of lightning lit up the big cat's face, and Aiden stared deep into its eyes. What he felt was a mixture of amazement, and fear. The cat's eyes showed no sign of fear, remorse, or mercy, yet it was filled with wonder, and intelligence, and all the makings of a soul. They were the eyes of a saint, and an assassin.

Slowly the big cat turned around and walked back in the direction it came from. Aiden released a breath that he seemed to be holding in forever.

"Congratulations agent. You've just become one of the few people on this earth to stare down a Siberian tiger." Merlin said.

"Yeah." Aiden said, still breathing heavily from the experience.

"Just be sure to wash your trunks before you go to bed."

"Fuck you." Aiden said, continuing his journey.

"Did you hear anything new about Galahad?" Aiden asked after a brief tenure of silence.

"No. There hasn't been any change." Merlin replied.

"Damn. That's three days he's been out. That's not good." Aiden said.

"He's a tough bastard. He'll make it. Just focus on the mission at hand, and let me worry about Galahad." Merlin ordered.

"Yes sir."

By morning Aiden had reached the crest of the mountain he was walking up, and the storm had given way to clear blue skies. The face of the summit lined the eastern side of a valley with a large river running through it. Across from Aiden's position was another mountain, but with one noticeable difference. There was a large Facility bored into the rocks.

"Objective reached." Aiden said.

"Copy. See if you can get eyes on our target." Merlin said.

The intricate series of tunnels and caves belonged to a mysterious mercenary group that had recently been doing dealings with shady company, such as ISIS and other radical groups.

Aiden's mission was strictly reconnaissance. He was to scope out the area, and attempt to identify the leader.

At a glance this secret base blended almost flawlessly into its surroundings. In fact, it was merely a man made cave carved into the mountain, similar to those the Taliban use in Afghanistan. The only give away, were the dozens of men walking in and out of the mountainside as they pleased, and the numerous camouflage nets set up on a flat just in front of the cave entrance.

Aiden took off the bag he was carrying and removed its contents. Inside was a military grade spotting scope with infrared and night vision capabilities, the matching tripod, a long lensed camera, and a long range listening device, and a ruggedized laptop.

Aiden set his equipment with the utmost care and began scouring the hillsides, attempting to uncover what these mercenaries were up to, and find any trace of the leader.

Although his objective was over a mile away, his spotting scope aloud him to see his targets as if he were mere meters away. He adjusted the listening device to point at two of the mercenaries standing next to a stack of rectangular crates. The crates were over two meters long, and wide enough to hold several assault rifles.

"What do you suppose is in there?" one of the mercenaries asked.

"That ain't of our concern." The other said in a thick cockney accent.

"Yeah, but, doesn't it make you curious?" The first replied

"Look, either you shut the fuck up and help me wit' 'dis or you piss off and find somebody else to bother." The second merc said, rising to his feet.

"Alright, calm down." The first said. Both men crouched and prepared to lift one of the boxes.

"A bit heavy ain't it?" The first merc said.

"Will you shut up and lift!" the second responded

As the two lifted the crate, it knocked anther off a small pile revealing Russian military markings and the words _"Experimental Weaponry"_ written on the front in Russian. Aiden snapped a picture of the fallen crate and sent the picture to merlin.

"Oi! Careful you two! This is expensive shit we're dealing with!" Another mercenary, apparently of higher rank, shouted at the two.

"What the hells in here anyway?" The first merc asked.

"Rocket launchers. High tech, experimental, rocket launchers." The head merc said.

"What so high tech about them?" the second merc asked.

"Merlin, are you getting this?" Aiden asked.

"Aye. Keep listening." Merlin responded.

"State of the art guidance system, capable of beyond visual range fire, with pinpoint accuracy. Fire and forget, or laser guided, and it has the ability to fire, chemical, thermobaric, aerosol, or air burst ammunitions in a standard rocket casing, cluster bomb, and a multiple warhead dispenser." The head merc said pulling one of the rocket launchers out of its crate.

"What's a multiple warhead dispenser?" The first merc asked.

"It a big missile that separates into smaller missiles, which guide themselves to their individual targets. I call them Mosquitos." The head merc said.

The weapon was massive. It's caliber was twice the size of a FGM-148 Javelin Anti-tank Missile, but it was two meters long. In fact, it looked very similar to an updated version of an M-40 Recoilless Rifle only with an on board computer system. Aiden quickly snapped several pictures of the weapon, and sent those back to merlin as well.

"Wow. That's fancy." The first merc said.

"Indeed. Now get back to work. The Snake's gonna want all this in the base ASAP." The head merc said, placing the weapon back in the case.

"Merlin. Did you here that? The Snake! Do you think it's him?" Aiden said.

"I don't know. It could be. Keep looking." Merlin replied.

Aiden shifted his focus from three mercenaries to a truck even more crates being unloaded. He adjusted the focus of the scope on the two important looking individuals barking orders at the other mercenaries unloading the truck.

One of them seemed to be a giant of a man, standing at six feet tall and appearing to be over two hundred pounds, with muscles that would put a bear to shame. The man was wearing green cargo pants, and an olive brown tank top that threatened to tear from attempting to contain the man's muscles

By contrast, the second commander was a shorter, yet fair-breasted woman with blonde hair and a pale complexion and plump red lips. Although shorter in stature, the woman's toned frame was neither fat nor skinny, she seemed to be a very strong individual in her own right. She wore a black leather jacket and matching pants with black knee high boots, and a black scarf.

Aiden took a picture of both individuals and uploaded them to Merlin. Upon closer inspection, He realized that the man was missing one of his arms from the elbow down. Instead of a hand, the man sported a metal hook that looked rather menacing.

After an hour of searching for the true leader of the band of mercenaries, and multiple pictures taken of an arsenal spanning from assault rifles, to rocket launchers, and even parts for a rocket engine it was finally time to pack up and relocate.

"Good job, Gawain. Pack up and relocate for the night. We'll pick up the search tomorrow." Merlin said.

"Copy." Aiden said. He quickly, yet carefully, began packing his equipment back into the backpack. He had only just finished placing the computer into the bag when he heard a bunch of twigs snap behind him.

Aiden whipped around to see a large man, taller than he was, that wasn't as heavily laden with muscle, although not to the same extent as the one armed man in the camp. This man's physique was more akin to that of a boxer rather than a body builder.

The man's head was mostly obscured by a shemahg, but his face was left exposed revealing very darkly tanned man whose chiseled features were partially obscured by a brown goatee and thick eyebrows, but Aiden could see he was of Indian descent.

Aiden only had a second to take in the man's features before he spoke.

"Hello." The man said in a light London accent.

Aiden didn't even think. He quickly moved to draw his weapon but was stopped by a massive kick in the in the stomach that launched him back several feet followed by an ear shattering roar. He lay there dazed as blood and tissue exploded from his abdomen.

Aiden managed to raise his head off the ground and look at the gapping hole where his liver should be, then back at the man. In his hand was a smoking LAR Grizzly Winchester Mag. Chambered in .50 action express. Aiden looked on with disbelief. How could anyone move that fast? So fast that it seemed inhuman?

Aiden struggled to breath and began to relentlessly cough up blood. He leaned his head back as the taste of blood filled his mouth and the sinking feeling of knowing your death was drawing near began to fill his head.

He wanted to cry, and scream but found himself incapable of doing either. The fear began to take hold, and Aiden began to panic. He didn't want to die. Not here. Not like this. As the curtains began to close and the last of his life began to run out of his body and into the mud, he thought of his family, and how they would never know how he died, or where his body is now.

_No._ He thought to himself. He was not going to lie here and die. He struggled to find his firearm, only to realize that it had been knocked from his hand when he had been shot. He began to reach for his knife when the looming figure of his killer stood over him.

"You're bleeding out quickly." The man said.

"Gawain! Gawain! What happened?" Merlin's voice said over the radio.

"Is that Merlin?" the man said removing Aiden's glasses and tossing them off to the side.

"Odds are, you're gonna die on this mountain side. So I'll do you a favor." The man said brandishing a large knife seemingly out of nowhere.

"Believe me. You don't want your last sight to be of the man who killed you. You are in one of the most remote, inaccessible, and beautiful places in the world. Go ahead. Look out upon the country. Let your last thought be of that." The man said as if he were a preacher giving the dying man his final rights.

Aiden resigned himself to his fate, defeated, and decided there was merit to the man's words and looked out onto the beautiful landscape. At the mountains, and the trees. On the hill behind the man, across the river, he thought he saw a flash of orange standing in the open. It was the tiger. The same tiger from the night before.

Aiden just stared at the lone assassin. And the tiger stared back at him with an almost sorrowful gaze. Even from a thousand meters away, Aiden could see it. He could feel it. It was like gazing into a distant mirror, and it filled him with a sense of peace. An almost tranquil sensation passed through his body, and he felt no more pain. No more fear. His feelings seemed to drift off into the wind so he could no longer feel anything at all. He didn't even feel the man's blade, as he drove it through his skull.

The tiger simply looked away. The thousand yard star broken. He simply carried on walking in whatever direction he found himself walking in. Stopping for but a brief moment to piss on a bush.

"Gawain! Gawain Come in!" Merlin yelled frantically in the radio as the man who shot Aiden crouched next to him brandishing a knife.

"Gawain! If you can here me, do something! He's got a knife!" Merlin shouted. But nothing worked. All he could do was watch helplessly as the mysterious shooter drove the knife through Aiden's skull. Then he stood up, walked over, and smashed the glasses under the heel of his boot.

"Damn it." Merlin sighed. He leaned back in his chair as he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. Then he realized something. Something familiar about the scene he witnessed.

He quickly rewound the footage from Aiden's camera to the moment just before he was shot. He played the video and watched as Aiden turned around and was greeted by the man before having his guts blown out. He saw the entire scene unfold. When Aiden looked at the man, his weapon was not drawn. A split second later, Aiden was struck by a large caliber bullet, and resigned to a cruel death.

He rewound the footage once more before pausing on the gunman's face. It was exposed, as if the man were taunting him. Merlin thought about running a facial recognition program, but then he looked closer, and realized there was something very familiar about that face.

He quickly picked up the phone and dialed the number on the screen and waited several rings before someone to answer before saying very sternly, "Get me Arthur."

"He's in a meeting." The masculine voice at the other end of the phone said.

"Pull him out of it. It's urgent." Merlin said.

"How urgent?" the man said.

"Very. We pissed off the devil, and now he's coming to collect our souls."

* * *

_Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, please R&amp;R and F&amp;F. Please, only constructive criticism, no put downs. If you have something mean to say then keep to yourself. That's about all I have to say so I'll see you guys in the next chapter, and it's been too long since I used my "outro", Semper Fi Carry On._


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